The Serpent of Love

32. The hospital (Part 3: Problems)

The ticket cost 364, if we buy the next one for in one and a half weeks, it should cost about 300 more. I took 650 in the beginning, the bus cost 50, that means I still have about 245 left, and even though FP said he'll pay for the ticket back to LA, I can't skip my medicine stuff so I still need to buy that (in max 3 days) and every jar costs 90. That makes 210, which means I have 25 left. I don't even have enough for the bus. Fuck.

“Hey, everything alright?” Gladys asks, sitting next to me. I look at her and then back at my wallet and close it quickly and drop it back into my bag.
“Yeah,” I lie.
She raises her eyebrows with a small smile. “Come on, you can tell me.”
I sigh and lower my eyes onto the ground. “I don't have money.”
“We'll buy you the ticket back,” she reminds me.
“You can't,” I say and look at her confused face. “I don't even have money for the bus.”
She frowns at that. “What?” she asks confused.
“I didn’t know I only had three pills left in all of them. I forgot. I was planning on going home and earn this medicine money back before I had to buy new ones, but they cost a lot and if I pay for them, I only have like 25 left… The bus costs more and I also need to buy water and stuff,” I say quietly and sniffle my tears back.
“It's okay,” she sighs. “We can call your dad, I’m sure he can give you some…”
I sigh and drop my head again. “He’s ignoring me. My dad… He hasn't sent us the money in months now and we can't reach him, because he just either lets it ring or it goes straight to voice mail. About half a year ago he used to answer and say he didn't have time and he'd call back tomorrow, but he never did…” I look up at her shocked face now. “I haven't heard his voice for half a year and haven't normally talked to him since the beginning of 2019…” I wipe my tears away quickly and drop my head again. “He doesn't care, he doesn't have money and he doesn't have time.”
“Tell you what,” she breathes out a few loments later, her brain taking all of it now. “I’ll call your dad, you go back to Jughead and get him to agree with falling asleep. And later you can talk to your dad.”
I frown and shake my head. “I don't want to talk to him. He's a jerk, I hate him.”
“Betty,” she sighs sadly.
“It's true,” I say. “And he hates me.” I get up and she doesn't know what to say, so she just lets me walk out of the room and back to Jughead's.
“Hey, everything okay?” Jug asks worriedly and the worry grows even more after he sees my eyes. “What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Everything’s fine,” I say and observe how the doctor is ready to put him asleep again.
“No,” he demands. “I’m not taking the medicine before you tell me.”
“Well too bad, it's not your choice,” I murmur, sitting onto the chair next to his bed where Gladys was sitting before.
“I refuse. Dad, you need to make her talk,” Jug says and I can hear the panic in his voice.
“Honey, you need to tell him what's wrong,” FP tries too.
I sigh and look at Jug. He seems so weak and helpless, just wanting to know why I've been crying. “Okay,” I whisper, getting lost in his deep greenish-blue eyes. “But I need everyone else out of the room.”
“Seriously?” Kevin sighs. “I just got here.” I keep looking at Jug as the room starts getting emptier.
The doctor looks at me and Jug. “If you're ready to take the medicine, push the button,” she says, pointing at one on his bed.
I nod. “Thank you.” She smiles sadly and nods before going out of the room. I sigh, waiting until the door closes and then look at the ground. His hand reaches out for me and I feel the warmness on my cheek where it stops. I look at him, tilting my head a little and he looks extremely worried.
“What's wrong?” he asks.
“I haven't been honest about my dad…” I start. He frowns and waits for me to continue. “He uh…”I sigh. “It’s not that he doesn't have money. He just ignores me. He doesn't answer the phone when I call and he doesn't answer mom or Chic or Polly either… Sometimes the call just ends, meaning he disconnected me and sometimes it just goes to the voice mail. He hasn't sent us money in months, Jug,” I say quietly. “If he would, I wouldn't have to work for the money for my own therapy or medicine…”
“Baby,” he sighs sadly, his other hand wanting to move to me too, but it's in a cast. “You work to get money for your therapies? And medicine?” he asks sadly. “I thought you were working to save for college…”
I shake my head, crying now. “I got a pretty big scholarship and I didn't tell you about it so that you'd think I worked for college.”
“Betty,” he sighs and tries to get me closer, which I let him. “Why? Why haven't you told me the truth?”
“It's embarrassing,” I say quietly and sniffle back my tears. “Most kids don't even work and I have to work to be healthy. It just makes me sick. My dad is a horrible person. I hate him so much,” I cry.
“I wanna hug you,” he says quietly, letting me know that I should go closer. I sit onto his bed and lie down as good as I can with my boots on the ground, legs over the edge. He even puts the broken arm on my stomach, the other one under me, curled around my shoulders and body. My head rests itself on his upper chest, right under his chin and his lips are against it.
“Baby, you can always tell me everything,” he whispers. “I’m worried about you, you're keeping secrets that I have no idea about.”
“I don't want you to tell anybody else. No one has these problems, no one understands.”
“They don't have to understand. And I'm not going to tell anyone,” he says into my hair. “I love you, okay?” he asks with a broken voice, hugging me even tighter now.
I nod under his chin. “I love you too,” I breathe out. When I've calmed down a little, I sit back on the chair, but rest my chin on the bed right in front of him, still holding his hand. I tell him about all the calculations I made before and that I told all of this to his mom too, but am not sure if she understood exactly.
We just keep looking at each other and breathing together, facing each other, hands united. And soon, my eyelids start falling shut, liking the comfort. “Hey,” he whispers and I open them quickly again. He's smiling softly. “You wanna get in here?” he asks, patting the bed.
I sigh and shake my head. “You’re hurt. Really badly. I can't.”
“I’m not,” he says and pushes the sheets down a little, showing me his bruised body which doesn't have the bandages anymore (they probably took tem off when I was talking with Gladys).
“It's literally purple,” I sigh, touching it softly with my fingertips. He has many cuts on his stomach and chest as well as on his arm and wrist. And he's just in his boxers.
“I'm fine,” he says, pushing himself up a little and turns onto the side. His face wrinkles up for the moment, but as he gets a comfortable position on hid side, he smiles at me big, only making me chuckle.
“We’re gonna ask, okay?” I ask.
His face gets whiny. “No,” he whines. “She’s not gonna let you,” he says, talking about the doctor.
“That means it's not safe or good for you,” I say and kiss his forehead while pushing the button on his bed. He looks at me with a pouty face, as I keep playing with his long hair. “I love this length,” I say quietly.
He sighs and nods, still kind of mad at me now. “Me too. I want as long as you have at the moment,” he says, making me smile.
“I’d like that,” I say and lean more closer to his face again. “I’m gonna cut mine the moment it starts growing… I love the length I have.”
He smiles, his hand running through my hair. “I love how blonde and light and thin it is.”
“You love everything about me,” I say quietly while nuzzling our noses together.
“I do,” he says and kisses it just as I pull away.
“What if I told you I ate boogers?” I smirk, making both of us laugh.
“I'd tell you let me taste,” he chuckles and I do the same.
“Everyone eats them,” I smirk, to get his reaction. I know for sure that everyone eats them.
“Everyone,” he agrees, making me smile. The door opens and we both look there. The doctor smiles at us. “Can she sleep here with me?” Jug asks immediately.
She frowns and looks at his position. “You shouldn't sleep like that,” she points out.
“See? I told you,” I murmur.
“Did you move yourself?” the doctor asks with a frown, observing his position.
“Yeah…?” he says.
She smiles a little and nods, looking impressed. “Sure, she can lie down with you. But be careful.” Jug smiles at me big and I smile a little as well as I push my boots off. “We’re gonna run some tests for you after you wake up in a few hours. You're stronger than we thought.”
I pull the sweater over my head quietly while Jug looks happy and nods to her. Jug makes some room for me and I climb under the sheet, placing my head onto his biceps, lying on my stomach, one arm over his torso, other one clinging off the edge of the bed. His other arm goes to rest on my torso. “If it gets too heavy, just push it off,” he says since it's in a cast.
I nod and look at how the doctor puts something into the small bottle what is hanging away from us and then taps on it so that the medicine would go into his body faster.
“If he starts moving too much, you should wake up, right?” the doctor asks me as Jug is already falling asleep. I nod. “He probably won't, but if he will, it's dangerous. You need to tell us then.”
“Okay,” I say quietly and she smiles before leaving. I lean closer to Jug who is already asleep and kiss his cheek softly before placing my head back onto his arm and falling asleep immediately.